Transient Orcas Stay in Kitsap a Second Day

Illahee resident Jim Aho videotaped three transient killer whales swimming by his house about a mile north of Illahee State Park Wednesday about 1:30 p.m.

Courtesy of Jim Aho

BREMERTON -

A group of transient killer whales first reported near Bremerton on Wednesday apparently remained in the area Thursday morning, though they may have split up into two groups, observers say.

The seal-eating transients were reported near Bremerton’s Bachmann Park at about 8 a.m. Thursday. That’s almost the exact time they were seen there the day before. One difference was that the group spotted Thursday appeared to be three orcas, instead of up to six observed there Wednesday.

If the larger group had split into two groups, they may have gotten back together by Thursday afternoon, because an observer reported five orcas across Puget Sound near Edmonds at 2:30 p.m., according to a report made to Orca Network. The whales were reported heading north.

Wednesday’s orcas apparently went north from Manette to Keyport and returned in the afternoon, when they passed by Illahee at about 1:30 p.m. Illahee resident Jim Aho, who lives about a mile north of Illahee State Park, caught them on his video camera.